Sri Lanka Among 2012 Best Tourist Destinations: National Geographic
COLOMBO, Dec 2 (Bernama) — National Geographic Traveler magazine has named Sri Lanka among top six destinations for world travelers in 2012, focusing on island’s hill country, heritage sites, and pristine beaches.
The magazine, in its Nov/Dec issue, describes that Sri Lanka’s hill country features stunning scenery, tea plantations, and ancient Buddhist temples, according to China’s Xinhua news agency, citing a statement by the External Affairs Ministry on Friday.
“This mountainous, mist-draped realm has long been popular with backpackers and other adventurers for its tea plantations and rain forest preserves, known as the Central Highlands, which recently were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list.”
“Sri Lanka is a “resplendent isle, and the natural charms of this pear- shaped island in the Indian Ocean that nearly kisses the southeast tip of India are indeed splendid,” the magazine said in a review of its in its best of the world 2012 trips.
Sri Lanka tourism has grown impressively, with a 52 percent increase in 2010 compared to 2009. Arrivals have topped an all-time high of 750,000 and the government has targeted 2.5 million tourists by 2016.
With those increases, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority has outlined a plan to reach a 30,000 hotel-room capacity by 2015.
Recently, top hotel chains such as Starwood (Sheraton), Marriott, Shangri La and Taj have announced plans for new construction in Sri Lanka. A number of existing hotels are also undergoing renovation. The magazine said the island has recently emerged from a bloody civil war between majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils and peace prevails.
— BERNAMA
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Hurrah ! We are now among the Best Six in the travellers
destinations in the world! That is a great achievement by
us in whatever way you look at it.We deserve it. Let us
all get together and enjoy their warmth and make them feel
happy.
Hurrah..!
Let’s jump up & make them happy by destroying buddhism with misbelief..!
And destroying forests with fire & cutting trees..!
Then target for billions in 2015..!
Amden,
I am with you.
The other day, I came across some shocking social statistics on southern Sri Lanka.
Heroin addicts: 270,000
Male prostitutes: 55,000
Male homosexuals: 125,000
The environmental degradation caused by tourim is immeasurable.
These are the outcomes of derelict westerner’s intrusion and influence on our society via Tourism.
We are proud of it too. And we killed 40,000 Tamils to bring “peace” to enable the derelict westerners to visit us and corrupt our land and our morals even more and more.
These statistics are paltry compared to those of India, African countries, Thailand. Cambodia. EU countries including UK, USA, S. American countries, Canada, China, Japan, Russia and Australia.
Homosexualism is as old as mankind. It is the opposite of heterosexualism. Similarly, prostitution (female and male) to cater to deviants is prevalent from ancient times. In Holland and some countries it is legalised but subject to strict health checks to prevent social illnesses (sexual diseases) such as AIDS.
We cannot close our borders just because of these illnesses and deviancies. We have to learn to tackle these problems the way they are tackled in the developed countries. We may even find our own home-grown solutions without closing the borders. Stopping tourism is the most stupid solution. It will not stop any social diseases or communicalble dieases coming into the country through travellers.
Moral degradation has to be reduced by encouragement of spiritual growth through religions from childhood and by good example from parents, teachers and politicians. Religions and Morality have to be taught in schools as subjects. If politicians are corrupt, unpatriotic, are ‘godfathers’ to gangsters and drug pedlars it is little surprise that a country is destroyed from within. Great civilisations, such as the ancient Roman civilisation, was destroyed from within through moral degradation.
I am proposing to apply for a business permit from the GA Killinochchi for a tourist hotel in a mud thatched tourist park on the shores of the Nanthikadal Lagoon.
There are more that 1/2 million diaspora tamils who could visit the site of the mass massacre of tamils that occurred in Jan-May 2009, to pay respect to the Maha Veera of the Tamil Liberation Struggle.
This will help GOSL achieve the 2.5m tourist arrivals by 2014.
A Mahaveera Dinaya celebration with the participation of 20 people was conducted on the shores of the Nandi Kadal Lagoon this year.
I also have a business plan to catch the smoke from the Chinese Incinerator established in the shores of the Nandikadal Lagoon, and store it in canisters and export it overseas. Sales will be so heavy that my enterprise is likely to be classified as an underperfoming business and taken over by GOSL.
DC.. We’ve already organized a maha veera celibaration in nandikadal for defeating of terrorism forever.
It’ll be done yearly by srilankan armed forces Heros there..!
I congratulation to my little country.Actualy,ilike to invite the tourists of all over the countries, come and see this beautiful island.